His Surprise Daughter : A BWWM Billionaire Romance

by Tiana Cole

  He hopped in his truck and made his way to the supermarket. He needed real food, not junk and not chemicals, no matter how the called to him as he strolled down the junk food aisle, or else he wouldn’t make it through the rest of the day. Or the next day. Lost in his own thoughts, Caine absently threw a few items in his cart, thinking of the beautiful woman who’d stolen his heart.

  He tried not to think about that time in his life, not ever. It had changed him significantly. So much that he didn’t think she would be all that fond of the man he’d become—a confirmed and self-confessed bachelor who worked entirely too much. Someone who cared more about his patients than the people in his life. Who never let anyone get too close, no matter what.

  “Dammit,” a low, husky curse sounded from one aisle over. Caine was intrigued by the sexy sound. Intrigued enough to explore further, Caine turned into the aisle and all the breath whooshed from his lungs.

  “Zara?”

  “Yeah,” she said, still struggling to grab a box of tasteless organic cereal from the top shelf.

  He strolled over to her and plucked the box from the shelf, holding it high in the air until her eyes met his. Those oh so familiar almond-shaped eyes the color of hot coffee. “Zee,” he repeated breathlessly.

  “Caine? What…how are…” She took a deep breath and he smiled, happy to see that she was as discomfited as he was. “What are you doing here?” Her eyes lit up with pleasure and excitement.

  “Picking up groceries; same as you I’d imagine.”

  “Right.” She shuttered her emotions and they were gone as quickly as her smile had appeared. “It was…good to see you, then.” Zara squared her shoulders and turned away, growing farther and farther away from him once again.

  He instantly regretted his snide remark that had stripped all the joy from her beautiful face. Zara was still in Alaska. He’d been certain she would leave the state and go in search of greener pastures, he’d done so when she stopped calling. “Dammit.” He followed her to the bakery section.

  She looked at him, took in the sight of him, and then looked right through him. Laughing with the gray-haired woman behind the counter, she seemed so full of life, and he was struck once again by her beauty. Her dark brown skin so smooth and touchable, and those razor sharp cheekbones gave her beauty an exotic air. But there were changes too, changes that belonged to a woman rather than a little girl. Most notably were the waist length braids she wore instead of the short pixie she’d worn when he’d fallen for her. “Thank you, Tina, enjoy your day.”

  He couldn’t let her walk away. Not again. “Zara, wait up.” Of course she only moved faster to get away from him. “Zee!”

  He could have kissed the two old ladies holding court in the center of the aisle, forcing her to stop long enough for him to catch up with her. Turning, she attempted to move her cart around him. He blocked her attempt.

  “Move.” Dark brown eyes seared him, both hot and cold somehow.

  “I can’t do that, Zara.” He flashed a charming smile, hoping to disarm her.

  Pulling back with a glare, she folded her arms. “Your charm doesn’t work on me, Caine. I got over you a long time ago.”

  Ouch. That was too bad because he knew now that he’d never gotten over her. “How are you?”

  “Busy. Excuse me.”

  The frustration he felt flashed on his face quickly, but she’d seen it and reacted, leaving her cart of groceries just to get away from him. “Dammit, Zara. You don’t want to know why I’m here?”

  She turned, those warm coffee eye shooting fire, and it was all aimed at him. “No, Caine, I don’t. Eight years ago I might have given a damn, but you made your feelings perfectly clear, so, no, I don’t give a fuck why you’re here.” She turned on her heels and all Caine could do was watch her walk away from him.

  He supposed it was only fair since last time he’d been the one to walk away. At least from her perspective.

  The truth was different.

  Chapter 3

  Seeing Caine had caught Zara off guard. Having him chase her through the supermarket left her unnerved, heart racing and mouth filling with sawdust as the memories came crashing back. Their first meeting on the kiddie slopes in Girdwood to their first kiss a week later, his parents’ vehement disapproval of their relationship and that one night of passion they’d shared before he’d gone back to Florida. It was all a jumble of emotions for her, happiness along with the rush of first love and first heartache.

  Old memories and new beginnings.

  In her mind she couldn’t separate the two, couldn’t forget all she’d been through since Caine Faulkner walked into her life and then quickly out of it. And now he was back. Seeing him again had brought it all back, in vivid living color.

  Zara was happy for once that she lived in Girdwood, Alaska. It was a small town where absolutely nothing ever happened—good or bad—except skiing. But this year she would be right in the middle of the action and the drama. At least she imagined there was lots of drama on the mountain, instructors sleeping with one another and fighting over girls or guys. Getting drunk and hooking up. To her seventeen-year-old mind, it was all very exciting.

  She would spend the winter teaching kids how to ski and snowboard in order to help pay what her scholarships would not when she left for school next year. The money wasn’t great but it was the best job around, plus she could ski for free and live on the mountain. It was a small taste of freedom before she went to Anchorage and had it for real.

  Taking in a lungful of crisp glacial air, she hopped off the lift and made her way to the kiddie slope to start her first day. There was just one other person there, her supervisor or her co-teacher. “Hey there.” The blue clad figure turned and Zara sucked in a breath at the beautiful man who stood so casually. So sexy with sable hair and piercing green eyes that seemed even more vibrant against his suntanned skin.

  “Hi. I’m Caine, the kiddie instructor.”

  Breathe girl. She smiled. “Zara, and the same. Is this your first time?” She just wanted to keep him talking and smiling. It made her feel warm and tingly.

  “Skiing, no. But I’ve never taught another person to ski.”

  She laughed and thought she saw a flash of desire in those green eyes. “And you thought starting with kids made the most sense?”

  His laugh was deep, rich and contagious. “I like kids and they listen better than adults.”

  She agreed and told him as much, hanging on to every word spoken in that rich, deep timbre. He was unlike any guy she’d ever met, and definitely not like any of the guys in Girdwood. Caine was gorgeous and funny, brilliant and kind. He didn’t even think the way people around her did, he had a different perspective that made her think of life outside her bubble.

  It had taken almost no time for her to fall under his spell. Not that Caine tried to win her over, but he’d been so sweet with the kids and he always brought her a hot cocoa to start the day and they always did a few runs together at the end of their shift. They’d become fast friends from the first day, eating meals together and talking about any and everything under the bright Alaskan sun.

  Then Caine had asked her out. On a real date. With him.

  Zara had been so excited and nervous she barely remembered how she got through the day, only that she did. Dressed in fitted black jeans and a snug red sweater with matching cowgirl boots, she was ready for the best first date of her life.

  “Damn, Zara, you look amazing.” His gaze tracked over her body, taking in the dip in her narrow waist and the flare of her hips. His green gaze lingered on her breasts until her nipples puckered.

  “Thanks.” She smiled shyly up at him. “You look pretty handsome too.” She’d never forget the way he blushed at her clumsy compliment. “Do you want to come in?”

  One side of that lush mouth kicked up and she had to hold onto the doorframe just to stay upright. “That’s probably not a good idea. Yet.”

  Her body shivered at his words and Zara knew s
he would have this man before her time on the mountain was finished. “Okay, where are we off to?”

  Caine didn’t answer, instead he wove their fingers together and pulled her body close to his until they touched from chest to knee. One arm banded around her waist and the other tilted her chin up so he could capture her mouth in a sweet kiss that turned hot and sensual and fiery in no time at all. She’d felt consumed by that kiss, by him. “We’re going dancing. I’ve been dreaming about having your body pressed against mine since you smiled at me that first day.”

  Smiling prettily, she licked her lips and exhaled a, “Wow,” that made him chuckle and pull her out the door.

  “Exactly. Let’s go.”

  They’d spent nearly the entire night wrapped in each other’s arms on the dance floor at the bar on the mountain. Slow songs and fast, it didn’t matter, Caine twirled her around the floor until she was giddy with laughter. “You’re a good dancer,” she told him when they’d stopped for drinks.

  With a careless shrug he told her, “My mom made us learn ballroom dancing, so to piss her off, I took country and line dancing after that.” He laughed but there was no humor in his eyes and Zara figured he had a pretty complicated family life.

  “Well, I appreciate it. Usually, big strong guys like you can’t move well.”

  Wiggling those dark chocolate eyebrows, he leaned in to whisper in her ear. “You know what they say about guys who can dance well.”

  Oh, she knew alright. “I’m sure I can guess.”

  She asked him about his family and he told her they were wealthy and heaped unrealistic expectations on his shoulders.

  “They don’t care what I want, they just want me to be what they’ve always imagined for me.” He sounded so distressed, it called out to her.

  Twirling her fingers lightly in the fine hairs at the nape of his neck, she gave him her two cents. “I know we’re practically strangers, but if you’re going to be unhappy, shouldn’t it be due to your own bad choices rather than someone else’s?”

  “You’re pretty smart for a ski bum.”

  “That’s future Doctor Ski Bum to you.” She told him of her dreams, her plans to attend the University of Anchorage as part of the famed child psychology program. “My ultimate goal is to earn my doctorate and help children through the difficult feelings they don’t yet understand.”

  His smile had been so bright she’d stumbled, forcing Caine to catch her and hold her close. His big hands spanned her waist possessively and Zara found she liked it. “You’re a pretty special lady, aren’t you, Zara?”

  She shrugged but felt her chest swell. No one but her parents thought she was special in almost eighteen years of living, and her heart swelled with pride. “I’m just me. You’re the Yale man.” She affected an upper crust accent awfully.

  Caine scoffed. “It’s not so impressive when you’re a legacy. My father went there and built a brand new medical library, there was no way they wouldn’t let me in.”

  “But I’ll bet you’re kicking ass anyway, right?”

  He shrugged, explaining to her that he was so unhappy he hadn’t been focusing as well as he should. “I’m just not into it, you know?” She was shocked to learn he hadn’t even chosen his major. “They just said you’ll do pre-med and I did. I will.”

  “I think you could be a great doctor. You’re good with children, so if you learn the medicine, you’ll do plenty of good.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  She didn’t, not really. But her parents had always made sure she was a good judge of character. “I do. You want to be a good man, a good person. Stand up for yourself when it counts and you’ll do great.”

  The rest of the date was way less serious and so much fun. They ate hot wings and Maple’s famous waffle fries by the basket to restore some of the calories they’d lost dancing. It was the best first date she’d ever had.

  “You’re even more special than I thought, Zara.” Caine looked into her brown eyes, his own mossy gaze flaming with desire and lust, and Zara knew she’d be powerless against him.

  “I’m just me, Caine.”

  He smiled and helped her down from the truck with a glint in his eye. “I don’t know, Zara, I think just you is more than enough. You’re beautiful, you’re funny and you love to ski. You’re practically perfect.”

  Before she could thank him or tell him how much his words touched her, his strong, firm mouth was on hers, tempting and teasing while she clung to his shoulders, feeling the evidence of his arousal pressed right between her legs.

  “God,” she groaned, and licked a line from the base of his throat to his bottom lip. “You make me crazy.”

  He half laughed and half groaned as she slid down his body until her feet hit terra firma. “Welcome to the club, honey.” He walked her to her room and kissed her until there was no doubt who she’d be dreaming about.

  Zara pulled herself from the past before she got to the gloriously beautiful parts and then the awful, heartbreaking parts. She needed to focus on the here and now. On Cassia and her health. And now on Caine. Whether she wanted to or not, she needed to figure out what to do now that he was obviously living in Alaska. Hitting the grocery store in the middle of the day was a local move, nothing a tourist would do. That meant she’d probably run into him again, and she might not be alone when that happened. “Oh god! This is the worst.”

  It would be unavoidable to keep her secret if they ran into each other regularly. Girdwood was a small town, there’d only been two thousand residents when she was growing up and that number was now about twenty-seven hundred, so if he lived there, she would know. Caine is more of a city kind of guy, and Anchorage is as city as it gets up here.

  Satisfied she’d talked herself into believing Caine lived an hour away in Anchorage, Zara drove to another store and picked up her groceries there. She didn’t have time to think about the man who’d stolen her heart, taken it back to Florida with him and left her heartbroken and alone.

  No matter how handsome he’d gotten since the last time she laid eyes on him.

  ~

  Caine’s suspicions were confirmed. Well, almost. The adorable girl with the pretty green eyes had all the markers of what he thought she did and now he would have to tell her family. Giving bad news was the worst part of his job because families either became too emotional or they insisted he was wrong, despite testing and re-testing per protocol. But informing the families was the best way to ensure they worked as a team to get the child healthy and keep him or her that way. And this type of notification was the worst because it wasn’t yet an official diagnosis.

  A quick glance at the clock told him they would be there in fifteen minutes. It was just enough time to get coffee and maybe a muffin. He’d eaten two sandwiches yesterday along with a banana and an orange. Not exactly sufficient fuel for a man his size, but today he vowed to do better. He had to stay healthy so he could make his patients healthy.

  “Dr. Faulkner, there you are.” Dottie shuffled into his office with a big plastic box. “Cassia Brown’s grandmother brought this for you.” She patted the box. “She appreciated your honesty and said a handsome man such as yourself needed to take better care of himself.” She laughed and opened it for him to see.

  “Coffee and breakfast.” He sighed reverently, taking in the scent of bacon and eggs, biscuits and hash browns. “Bless that woman.” He frowned. “Why did she drop it off? The appointment is today.”

  “Her daughter is coming today to meet with you, but she wanted you to know how you helped her. That’s a good thing Dr. F.”

  He smiled—sort of—because he knew Dottie was right. He appreciated being told he’d done a good job because sometimes dealing with sick kids was hard. Days like today were the reason why. “I know, Dottie, but she won’t think that soon.”

  “Her daughter is also a doctor so I’m sure she’ll understand. Eat up and I’ll bring the mom back when she gets here.”

  Caine did eat, swallowing d
own the delicious and greasy breakfast with more gusto than he’d done almost anything in the past decade. The food hit the spot, leaving him feeling prepared to meet with young Cassia’s mother. A knock sounded. “Come in.”

  “Dr. Faulkner, I’m Cassia’s…Caine. Dr. Caine Faulkner?”

  He smiled tightly when Zara breezed in the room looking sexy as hell in jeans, knee high boots and a sexy fluffy sweater. “That’s right. You’re Cassia’s mom?”

  She tilted her chin in the air and stared at him. “I am. May I sit?”

  “Of course.” He motioned to the chair in front of him. “I didn’t realize you’d gotten married.”

  She glared at him. “I didn’t.”

  Oh. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. He didn’t want us so we don’t need him.” Those words felt more pointed than they needed to be but Caine brushed them away. There were more important things to focus on. “So, Cassia?”

  “There’s no easy way to say it, Zara, she has all the markers of kidney disease and will almost certainly need a transplant. We’ll need to run a few tests to be sure, which we can do today.” He stood and made sure his gaze caught hers. “Time is an important factor here, Zara. We’ll do the ultrasound today and we’ll need to test family members for organ compatibility.” It felt wrong to speak to Zara in such a clinical, detached way, but it was the only way he knew how to act anymore.

  She nodded but he knew she was still absorbing his words so he gave her a moment. “Okay. She’s out in the lobby with my mom so we can do that now. There’s just me, Mom and Dad to test, and they’re both old with bad health, unlikely donor candidates.” Her shoulders sagged and Caine watched her, a self-contained ball of worry and stress and sadness. “Thank you.” She stood and walked out of his office on shaky legs, forcing him to accompany her.